Ohio Criminal Defense Lawyers

If you are  charged with a second or third OVI offense in Fairfield may qualify for a new program handled solely through the new OVI court. This court was started in January of this year in response to the large number of reoffending drunk drivers. As this article from the Fairfield Echo points out, Judge Joyce Campbell states the court was created to reduce the number of people reoffending and keep Ohio roadways safer.

According to Campbell, Fairfield Municipal Court saw over 700 OVI/DUI cases last year and over 1/3 of them were 2^nd or 3^rd time offenders. It seems like many other criminal behaviors, OVI’s may be a hard cycle to break in the lives of many people. The hope with a court like this is that the root problem can be addressed and handled rather than simply punished.

Participation in the OVI court program is voluntary and not everyone qualifies. For those that do, they must plead guilty and serve their sentence. Once out of jail they will be monitored for alcohol consumption, be required to check in at court once a week, participate in outpatient drug and alcohol treatment, and even undergo acupuncture. [read more...]

In a trend that is sweeping the nation, the “tough on crime” era may be relaxing, just a little. In Ohio, county prosecutors are pushing for laws that would relax some current stances on crime that have been around for some time. This includes changing some offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and changing the offenses that carry a mandatory prison term. This would allow for better management of the already overworked legal system.

According to the Columbus Dispatch some of the offenses they are looking to make misdemeanors include assaulting a teacher or bus driver when no injury occurs, illegal use of food stamps, unauthorized use of cable or telecommunications, and injuring a police animal. As misdemeanors, the maximum sentence these crimes would likely carry is one year in jail.

Another big change would be the option of sending second time drug offenders to treatment rather than prison. Currently, first time offenders can get a 2^nd chance but prosecutors want judges to have this option with second time offenders, encouraging rehabilitation rather than straight incarceration. [read more...]

You don’t have to be driving a car to be charged with a OVI/DUI. This crazy story is making headlines around the country solely because of the unique way this drunk driver chose to make it home. Earlier this month a Newark Ohio man was pulled over (if you can call it that) for driving his modified bar stool while drunk.

Kile Wygle crashed his motorized bar stool on his way home from, you guessed it, the bar. Apparently police received a call of a crash “with injuries” and responded to find this unique contraption built from a lawnmower motor and a bar stool. Wygle was treated and released for minor injuries but now faces charges for OVI.

Apparently Wygle readily admitted to drinking 15 beers that night and then jumping on his moto-stool to get himself home. Apparently this creation can travel up to 38 miles per hour.

Needless to say, after 15 beers Wygle was over the .08% legal limit and considered legally drunk. It is not clear if he thought driving this vehicle would be okay since it wasn’t a car or if he simply didn’t care either way. [read more...]